Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-cnmwb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-18T21:16:49.588Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Outbreak of measles in a teenage school population: the need to immunize susceptible adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

D. Morse ,
M. O'shea ,
G. Hamilton ,
N. Soltanpoor ,
G. Leece ,
E. Miller  and
D. Brown
D. Morse
Affiliation:
PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5EQ
M. O'shea
Affiliation:
PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5EQ
G. Hamilton
Affiliation:
South East Thames Regional Health Authority, Oak Lodge, David Salomon's Estate, Broomhill Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN3 OTG
N. Soltanpoor
Affiliation:
PHLS Statistics Unit, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5EQ
G. Leece
Affiliation:
East Sussex Health Authority, Rutherford Business Park, Marley Lane, Battle, East Sussex, TN33 OE2
E. Miller
Affiliation:
PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5EQ
D. Brown
Affiliation:
PHLS Virus Reference Laboratory, 61 Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HT
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

An outbreak of measles occurred in a community school and the surrounding area in Crowborough, East Sussex, UK, from December 1992 to February 1993. There were 96 suspected cases reported: 66 cases among 1673 students at one school and 30 community cases. The majority of suspected cases were in those aged 11–17 (78%), 2 cases occurred in infants < 1 year old and 8 cases in adults aged 18 years or over. Data collected on 60 (91 %) of the 66 suspect school cases showed 56 (93%) had an illness which met a case definition of measles. Eighteen had confirmatory IgM measles antibody. Two cases were hospitalized. The local percentage uptake for measles immunization for the school age years affected varied between 64 % and 84 %. A survey of parents showed that approximately 74% of the students attending the school had a history of measles immunization. The immunization rates reported by parents for children who developed measles was 21 %. (29 % based on GP records) compared with 77 % for those who remained well. Vaccine efficacy was estimated to be 92%. This outbreak, along with others recently reported in older unimmunized children in the UK, reinforces the need for catch-up immunization programmes to reach this susceptible group of adolescents.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 113 , Issue 2 , October 1994 , pp. 355 - 365
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

References

REFERENCES

1.Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre. Measles Surveillance. CDR 1991: 50: 221.Google Scholar
2.Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre. Measles Surveillance. CDR 1993; 3: 5.Google Scholar
3.Lyons, R, Jones, HI, Salmon, RI, The successful control of a measles outbreak by vaccination in the United Kingdom. PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre (Welsh Unit). Epidemiol Infect (in press).Google Scholar
4.Carter, HI, Gorman, D, Measles outbreak in Fife: Which MMR policy ? Public Health. 1993: 107: 25–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Department of Health. Vaccination and Immunization: 1979 to 1989/90. Summary information forms KC50. KC50A. and KC51.1991:SM12B.Google Scholar
6.Morgan-Capner, P, Wright, J, Miller, CL, Miller, E, Surveillance of antibody to measles, mumps and rubella by age. B M J 1988: 297: 770–2.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Center for Disease Control. Classification of measles cases and categorization of measles elimination programs. MMWR 1983: 31: 707–11.Google Scholar
8.Perry, KR, Brown, DWG, Parry, JV, Panday, S, Pipkin, C, Richards, A, The detection of measles, mumps and rubella antibodies in saliva using antibodv capture radioimmunoassay. J Med Virol 1993: 40: 235–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Cohen, BJ, Mortimer, PP, Pereira, MS, Diagnostic assays with nonmonoclonal antibodies for the human serum parvovirus-like virus (SPLV). J Hyg 1983: 91: 113–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10. Weekly Epidemiological Record. Expanded programme on immunization: Field evaluation of vaccine efficacy. 1985: 18: 133–6.Google Scholar
11.UK Health Departments. Immunization against infectious disease. London: HMSO. 1992.Google Scholar
12.Hill, A, Measles, mumps and rubella vaccination. B M J 1992: 304: 779.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Carter, H, Gorman, D, Measles, mumps and rubella vaccine: Time for a two stage policy ? B M J 1992; 304: 637.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14.ACIP. Measles prevention. MMWR 1989: 38 (S–9): 1–13.Google Scholar
15.Markowitz, LE, Preblud, SR, Orenstein, WA et al. , Patterns of transmission in measles outbreaks in the United States, 1985–1986. N Engl J Med 1989; 320: 75–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Edmonson, MB, Addiss, DG, McPherson, JT, Berg, JL, Circo, SR, Davis, JP, Mild measles and secondary vaccine failure during a sustained outbreak in a highlv vaccinated population. JAMA 1990: 263: 2467–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.World Health Organisation. Targets for health for all. Copenhagen: World Health Organisation. 1985.Google Scholar
18.Birkhead, GS, Morse, DL, Mills, IJ, Novick, LF, New York State's schedule for two-dose measles immunization. Publ Hlth Rep 1991; 106: 338–44.Google Scholar